Improvement in the modes of removing stains from marble and other stones



' Specification forming part of LettersPat :they have been pre Q it.

orientate a militia NrrED STATES NT" QFFICE,

HENRY Emerson. ELLIOTT, or CHARLESTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS.

: IMPROVEMENT IN THE MODES or REMOYING'STAINS FROM MARBLE-AND'OTIHER STONES.

1;? all diom it may concern: j inxlt known that I, HENRY HA RISON -,;ELriio'r'r, of .Gharlestown, Middlesex county, "Staje'of Massachusetts, have invented a new an" Improved Mode ofltemoving Stains from Marble, Alabaster, andother Stones, of which the following is a specification:

Marble table sl'abs and marble counters are occasionally stained with spots of ink, oils of various kinds, animal, vegetable, and mineral,

and other defacing marks; monuments are stained with-substances dropped in watery solution from certain trees; door-steps and building foundations are stained with tobaccojuice, and'witlniespecially at the corners of -the buildings, canine urinary secretions, 8m;

, spread this paste upon the surface or part to be cleaned to the'tliickncss of from threeeighths to one-half aninch. I then expose this prepared slab to the action of steam heat fora period varying from twenty minutes to an hour, more or less, the time of exposure varying according to the supposed nature of the stains, and the probable time during which sent in the stone. The staining substances which require the least time are such common stains as are likely to.

be present on a tablc-slab or con] itcrs, mantle.- picccs' and stat-nary, as of ink, various liquid drugs and medicines, tobacco, &e. Those which require the longest time are stains of oils, animal, vegetable, and mineral; marks from the watery extract of black-walnut shay ings, (used carelessly inpaeking the, stonc;) iron rust from vesselscarclcssl y left in a moist condition on marble slabs, or from the saws used in sawing up the marble; also, the-stains i'rom-clguct, port, and other wines, (these intout No. 147,250, dated February 10, 1874; application filed ecember 5, 1873. v i

ter are of course most common on'table-slabs and counters also, those stains seen about the m'arble bases of soda fountains, coming from the extracts and sirups usedin flavorin in most-cases no other manipulation is necessary but the simple administration of cold water,

applied with a brush, to remove the coating of chemicals now holding the extracted substances but, in other cases, as when the stains have resulted from the presence of oil, I use alcohol of ordinary commercial strength, say, eighty degrees, with which, after the aqueous washing is concluded, I wash the surface to be cleaned. Some species of oils, as, for instance, fish-oils, (shed upon the marble counter-slabs, in iishrmarhets, on which iish ha e been cut up,) contain a dyeing or coloring substance, most readily removed after my first-mentioned ingredients have. been applied (without-the use of alcohol) by a watery solution of oxalic acid, made in the proportion of, say, two ounces of crystals dissolved in aquart of cold water.

This 11 app] y preferably with a cloth, and, wetv ting the stone thoroughly with it, allow the solution to remain on. the marble a few inements, and then wash the same ol'ljwith cold water. I

; 1 do not confine mysell' to the. exact propor tion of these substances named, but prci'iu' those 1. have mentioned; nor do i always use lime as an alkaline base for. my chlorine. i

use sometimes chloride or hypochlorite of soda, or chloride or lrvpocliloritc ol' potash.

The composition for cleaning nmrble, alabaster, and other stones, consisting of chlorine united with an alkaline base, spirits oi. turpcn tine,and spiritsot'ammoniaappliedand treated by steam, substantially in the manner described.

lioslon, November 2-], i871 lll'lNliY' HARRISON l'll'ililOT'l.

\\'ilness(.is: I v ,in-znnim l. Jeans, l. ll. lioWlfiRS.

was l. is a 

